The present invention relates generally to ice creams and specifically to a catcher for melting ice cream.
Eating ice cream from an ice cream cone is very messy in that one cannot always eat the ice cream at the same rate in which it is melting. Thus there is a need for some sort of guard for the hand to protect it from the melting ice cream. Guards have been developed which range from a corrugated paper guard shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,616,570 to unique ice cream cone having two portions acting as guard as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,938,113. A shield being inserted within the interior of the cone is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,355. Closed containers which receive the cone and encompass the bottom are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,920,995 and 3,351,258. More simplified versions of guards which extend radially outward (from the cone without encompassing the bottom are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,948,452 and 3,306,512.
The complete enclosures of the U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,920,995 and 3,351,258 avoid the problem of forming a tight seal between the cone and the catcher since the bottom is totally closed. But, they are expensive to the manufacturer. The more inexpensive manufactured catcher, illustrated specifically in U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,512, experience sealing problems between the cone and the catcher such that the accumulated melted ice cream will drip down between the cone and the central opening of the catcher.
Thus it is the object of the present invention to provide and improve ice cream catcher which provides an improved seal between the cone and the catcher.
Another object of the present invention is to proved an inexpensively ice cream catcher which provides a good seal between the cone and the catcher.
This and another objects of the invention are obtained by providing an ice cream catcher having a dish with a collar extending up from a center orifice therein and a flap structure which extends down through an aperture in the collar which engages and seals the cone extending through the aperture. The flap structure includes a bead extending around the interior of the collar in the aperture and a plurality of circumferially spaced fingers extending down from the bead. The collecting volume is an annulus defined between the collar and the dish. The dish has a generally concave base with substantially vertical rim extending upwardly from the base. This combination maximizes the volume with a minimum of radial extension about the cone.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, an embodiment embodiments in accordance with the present invention.